Change Can Be For The Better
by Midnight-633
Summary: : The war has just ended for Percy, but the gods have summoned him. The gods want to help him and what better way than to disguise it as a quest? Percy has no choice but to accept it and head to the wizarding world. Voldemort was finally dead. Harry could now go back to his normal life except everything has changed. Will the both of them help each other accept that change is good?
1. Chapter 1

_**CHANGE CAN BE FOR THE BETTER**_

 _ **SUMMARY**_ : The war may just have ended for Percy, but another threat looms namely a meeting to which the gods have summoned him. The gods want to help him and what better way than to disguise it as a quest? Percy has no choice but to accept it and head to the wizarding world…  
Voldemort was finally dead. Harry could now go back to his normal life except nothing is normal anymore. The-boy-who-lived is quickly becoming The-boy-who-felt-guilty-all-the-time. Will he find his peace? Will they both help each other to accept that change can be for the better?

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 _DISCLAIMER: THIS STORY IS PURELY MY IMAGINATION. ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE IS THE WORK OF J. AND RICK RIORDAN_

* * *

 **CHAPTER: 1**

A hot breeze was blowing. Percy savoured the taste of the strawberries he'd plucked from the strawberry field. No one would find him here. He sighed and stretched his legs, leaning against the trees. They gave nice shade and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them he found himself on the edge of the camp borders. He was fighting three hellhounds all at once. He stabbed one and whirled around Riptide continuing the motion. Without checking if he had killed it Percy ran towards the other group of monsters. He caught a flash of blonde hair fighting two monsters while defending a small boy.'Annabeth' his mind supplied to him. Percy surged forwards kicking the dracanae and decapacitated the hellhound. he took a dagger and aimed it at hellhound which was following him. It reached it's mark and the hellhound exploded in a shower of golden particles. In a single fluid motion he impaled the fallen dracanae with it's own spear. He turned around to check on Annabeth.

"Annabeth, are you alright?". The words died on his lips. There was no one in front of him. He took a step forward and called out her name again. It was eerily silent. Percy took off towards the camp and stopped dead on his feet at the sight of camp. It was completely destroyed. The Big house had collapsed and all the cabins were lying in ruins. There was not a demigod in sight. It looked like a tsunami had come. He must have done this. He let them down. Overwhelming emotions threatened to overtake him and he fell to his knees, tears streaming down his eyes. He felt someone shaking him and shrugged it off.

"PERSEUS JACKSON!"

His eyes snapped open and he was on his feet in a second, Riptide leveled at the person. That person turned out to be Annabeth standing in front of him looking impatient with her arms crossed. "Gods, Annabeth you scared me! What happpened?". He shook his head trying to clear his mind.

"Nothing happened except that Chiron was looking for you so I offered to drag your lazy behind to him. Are you alright? You look a little tensed", Annabeth said sounding concerned.

"It's nothing. I'm fine. Just a bad dream. I'll go find Chiron."

Annabeth hugged him. "You will be fine", she whispered. She knew how much those nightmares affected him. When the first time Percy dreamt that Annabeth was killed by the physical form of tartarus, while he himself could do nothing to save her, he'd raced to the Athena cabin and started pounding the door until it opened. He rushed past Malcolm standing at the door and embraced her relieved to see her quite unhurt. She didn't ask him anything just tightened her hold and muttered soothing words until he calmed down. The next night he found Annabeth at his door, eyes red and voice hoarse she had thrown herself at him and admitted she had a nightmare. They both helped each other cope during those sleepless nights. He loved her and anyone who hurt her would face the wrath of the Saviour of Olympus.

Percy nodded his head and turned to leave. "See you later, wisegirl"

* * *

Percy found Chiron in the porch in his centaur form. He looked deep in thought.

"You called for me?".

Chiron nodded absently still thinking. "The gods want you to come to Olympus. They expect you to be present in time for the special council."

Percy looked surprised. Maybe they were going to discuss how powerful Percy was and how to eliminate him as a possible threat. He was pretty sure he more gods would back him than the last time after he had saved the goddess Artemis. But then again he had probably pissed off even more number of gods.

Chiron chuckled as if he knew what Percy was thinking."They are going to do no such thing, my boy. It seems , they have summoned all the children of the Big three. Yes, that means Thalia, Jason and Nico will be present." Percy's face considerably brightened. Ever since the war ended Percy had thrown himself into work. Be it be rebuilding the camp or helping Jason with his Pontifex Maximus duties and creating action figures for gods ( namely Kympoleia, the goddess of violent seastorms) Percy refused to think about the war. Everything he saw reminded him of the people he had lost. Perhaps, the gods plan might help him.

Percy smiled,"I'll go there, Chiron. By the way did you know that the Apollo cabin have cursed the Ares cabin with rhyming words? It's pretty funny to hear Clarisse rhyming."

"For the love of ... I'd better go and take care of it. Don't forget about the meeting."

He watched Chiron hurrying towards the cabin and sighed. He had a long day ahead. He walked back to his cabin narrowly missing a shoe aimed at Austin, the son of Apollo. He ducked once more before reaching his cabin and shut the door. The water in the fountain kept the room cool and Percy flopped onto his bed face first without bothering to undress. He would probably be up in a few hours when his nightmares started. Well then better get some sleep while he still can.

* * *

While in another world, another country, another black haired, green eyed boy lied on his bed dreading the same thing, little to on sleep due to nightmares.

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What do the gods want with Percy? and what about Harry? Read the next chapter to find out.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN** : This chapter is for the first reviewer- TheGoodeRavenclaw . A huge thank you for taking your time to review.

Thank you for your review joliet536and I am not going to stop the story any time soon.

Honestly guys your reviews made me sit up until 3 am just so that I could give you the next chapter.

No more dawdling, now on to the second chapter….

* * *

 _DISCLAIMER: THIS GOES FOR THE ENTIRE STORY. ANYTHING YOU RECOGNIZE IS THE WORK OF J. AND RICK RIORDAN. THE REST BELONG TO ME._

* * *

 **CHAPTER 2**

Harry was angry. And irritated. To top it all off he was sleepy. Like curl up on the ground and hibernate for the next few years, preferably for at least a decade, kind of sleepy. It wasn't the fact that he was roused that made him angry, Merlin only knows he barely slept during the night. No it was the fact that he woke up because Hermione decided to wake Ron up earlier than usual. She'd tried calling his name, pulled away all the covers (they were already on the floor anyway), and finally gotten impatient enough to pour water on him. Her Augamenti worked fine enough that Ron got up sputtering out of the bed and moved to remove the soaked shirt.

"Merlin, Ronald don't remove your shirt!". Her hands flew to her eyes forgetting that she still had water spouting out off her wand. Harry got a face full of water and the worst part was some got into his nostrils and he couldn't breathe. He sat up gasping for breath while Ron pounded on his back to clear the passage. Once he stopped coughing, he glared at Hermione who blushed and apologized.

"I'm so sorry Harry. I didn't mean to wake you up. I was only trying to wake Ron up and he startled me and I didn't watch my wand and ended up waking you. I'm sorry… here I'll dry you off." She flicked her wand and muttered a spell to dry him.

"Thanks, next time just give me a heads up, okay?"

"Sure. You better head down. Mrs. Weasley wanted everyone to sit together for breakfast. I think she wants to announce something to all of us."

Harry nodded his head. "You'd better wake Ron up then. I'll wait for you downstairs."

Hermione looked at the bed where Ron was snoring as he wasn't awake a few minutes ago. She shook her head and sighed. It would be a long time before she went for breakfast.

* * *

Harry splashed the water on his face. He was in the bathroom. It was a wonder no one had knocked on the door yet. He looked at the mirror and immediately winced at the dark circles under his eyes. He didn't get much sleep last night. Flashes of the final battle with jets of red and green lights flew all around the hall. He kept seeing Dumbledore falling down the tower, Remus and Tonks dead after the battle and many other Order members. It was his fault , he knew that. They were all dead because of him. His victory didn't matter, it had cost too many lives .

He shook his head trying to keep those depressing thoughts at bay. It wouldn't do good to have a breakdown early in the morning. He didn't want to worry anyone. As far as everyone was concerned, Harry Potter was fine. He ran his fingers through his hair. It stuck up even more and he gave up trying to flatten it. Hopefully at least after a shower his wet hair would stay down.

It took almost an hour for everyone to settle in the dining room. Ron kept yawning and Hermione ignored him in favour of talking to Ginny. George looked a little lost without his brother by his side. Harry felt a stab of guilt which he ignored. George looked around before pulling out a piece of parchment and proceeded to write on it with a never-out quill.

"Alright, boys! Is everyone here? Good start eating. Arthur has gone to the Ministry early and won't be back until dinner. Once you finish eating we need discuss something. You too Harry, Hermione dear. Dig in!"

They all shovelled food inside their mouths curious as what they were going to talk about. Harry pushed his food bacon and eggs around the plate ended up eating only half an apple. If Mrs. Weasley saw him eating almost nothing she didn't call him out for it. That wasn't exactly a bad sign but he could tell that she was nervous about the matter.

After breakfast they all gathered in the living room and sat down on the couches. Mrs. Weasley didn't beat around the bush, she came straight to the point. "Minerva sent me an owl today. Apparently a lot of students didn't have a proper education, none of the exams were actually conducted. So, for the benefit of these students she has allowed them to retake the year. Now, for you she offered two options ; to retake your seventh year or you can accept Kingsley's offer to join the auror training. What do you want to do?"

Hermione replied first, "I would like to go back to Hogwarts and continue my seventh year,"

Ginny just raised her hands, "Of course I'm going to Hogwarts. How else will I pass my N.E.W.T.S?".

George refused. "I'm going to run the joke shop mom, Lee promised to help me. We're hiring people too."

Molly looked like she was going to protest but at the last second she shut her mouth and remained silent.

She turned towards Harry. Everyone looked at him. They were expecting him to refuse it too. But he wouldn't do that. Just because he was the boy-who-lived and defeated Voldemort didn't meant he was entitled to any special treatment. He didn't want people pointing at him saying that he wasn't qualified to become an auror because he hadn't graduated from Hogwarts. He wanted to try his hand at being a normal wizard for once. Harry nodded his head assertively and so it was decided that the great Harry Potter would return to Hogwarts as a student.

When two of the Trio decided to return, Ron didn't even try to protest. He was going to stick with his friends as long as he could.

* * *

A few hours later in the living room, Harry groaned. So much for being a normal wizard for once. He was pretty sure that normal people didn't get a sack full of fan mail, everyday. Fan mail being the loose term to define the hundreds of thank-you letters, lots of gift cards, some gifts and a pile of pink and cream coloured letters that looked as if it had been soaked in Amortentia. At first it had been amusing but now it was getting on his nerves. He had no desire to touch those and very politely asked Hermione to burn them discreetly. She grimaced but quickly nodded and destroyed them.

When Arthur Weasley came back from the Ministry, he was informed that Hermione, Harry, Ginny and Ron would be retaking their respective years. After much discussion, Arthur arranged for them to floo to Diagon Alley the very next day to pick up the school supplies unless they wanted to get caught in the rush of last minute shoppers.

The children at the Burrow lazed about the entire afternoon, the only productive thing being done was playing an exploding snap game and almost blowing up the living room after which Molly promptly kicked them out of the house. The rest of the day passed in the same fashion. When dinner was finally over Harry trudged towards bedroom he shared with Ron. Molly had offered Charlie's room for the time being which he refused. He preferred having someone sleeping in the same room as him so that he didn't feel alone. Tomorrow they were going to Diagon Alley, if he could manage it he would have to slip away and buy a Dreamless Sleep potion so that he didn't seem so sleep deprived when the term started. Slipping away from the Weasley family and the aurors assigned as Harry's bodyguards was going to be a piece of cake…..not.

* * *

Percy stood the camp borders waiting for Argus to bring the van.

"You haven't done anything to anger the gods, have you?"

"No.. I'm hurt by the lack of faith you are showing, wisegirl", he joked. Then he quickly sobered up and reassured her when he realized that she was worried. "They are summoning all the four of us. We should be fine. Don't worry Annabeth. I'll be back before you realize it."

"Fine, stay safe Percy." Then she kissed him. Just like that he forgot what he was going to say. He forget about the camp, the forest and was deaf to the surroundings except for one insistent beeping. Argus gave one last hoot and Percy jumped. He glared at Argus who merely winked one of his eyes at the nose at him. He hugged her and got into the van. He was going to meet the gods. Again. 'Olympus here I come' Percy thought to himself.

* * *

Another AN: Review if you like it. Your reviews make my day.

Constructive criticism and suggestions are welcomed.

 ** _-MIDNIGHT_**


	3. Chapter 3

AN: A big shout out to all those who reviewed! Thank you so much guys!

A clarification on the pairings in this story since one of the readers inquired if this was going to be Harry/Hermione story. The answer to that is sadly…no. while I adore the HP/HG pairing I want to stay true to the canon as much as possible except for a few slight deviations. One of them maybe an over used idea but I want some things to happen… and you know what they say The heart wants what it wants.

So the pairings are going to be the same: Percy- Annabeth

Harry- Ginny

Ron- Hermione

This was just to let you know the couples so that none of you will get disappointed later.

Onto the next chapter…..

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CHAPTER 3

Percy stood outside the doors to the Throne room. He could hear the gods arguing inside. The voices were loud but the words were indistinguishable.

" So are we just going to stand here or can we go in? I can feel a migraine coming up just hearing them argue.", Thalia huffed.

" I'm not sure. The last time I was here the doors were blown into bits remember? I was too busy fighting an evil ancient king of titans who just happened to possess my friend to actually care if I would get incinerated on entering without permission.", Percy grumbled.

"You get incinerated on entering without permission?", Jason exclaimed. He strangely looked excited at the prospect of getting fried alive.

"Were you listening to what I said just now? I don't know", Percy enunciated the last three words slowly. "Though you could always walk in and find out."

"He might just do it …." Before Nico could complete his sentence Jason walked up to the doors and with a mighty push the door swung inwards. Jason grinned, "There's only one way to find out. Let's go in."

The other three demigods looked at each other and shrugged. Might as well make a good entrance they thought to themselves.

The Throne room fell silent the second the doors opened. No one was allowed to enter the room during a council meeting unless it was an important issue. Zeus with his usual theatrics stood up and bellowed, "Who dares interrupt the council?"

Once the gods finally calmed themselves enough to realize that they had summoned the demigods and had completely forgotten about them, the council proceeded. The demigods were seated in smaller comfortable armchairs (courtesy of the goddess Hestia. That's why they were so comfortable) at the foot of the thrones of their respective parents. Hestia as usual was at the centre tending to the fire, while Hades sat on the throne which arose next to Poseidon with Ares on the other side. (I won't give the seating arrangement, it's far too boring anyway.).

Nico was gaping at the enormous room. Room seemed too inadequate to use here. Percy wasn't sure if Nico had visited Olympus before but at the way Nico was staring you would think he'd take at least a week to process everything. Jason was no better. Only he kept his mouth closed with his eyes drinking everything. He couldn't blame them Annabeth had done a great job remodelling Olympus. So far only the main and mostly used places had been completely renovated. If Gaea's whole tantrum hadn't happened the work would have be mostly done and over with. His favourite part though had been the Heroes Garden which had finally been updated. Since the time of Hercules, Theseus, Jason and others the garden had not been touched. At a completely random comment from a random camper Malcolm had gotten the idea to honour the dead and the living heroes of the wars by including them in the garden. The idea had been such a hit with the planning team that they immediately started and it was complete in two months. The garden had previously contained statues of the old heroes to which new ones were added. The seven along with Nico, Thalia, Reyna, Grover , others and even coach Hedge were incuded. A memorial in honor of the fallen was also placed. There was information on every name mentioned in the garden. He should take the others there after the meeting Percy decided. Right now though….

"Ahem… if you're done gaping we can hopefully go in.". Thalia smirked.

"What are we supposed to do now?" In answer to Jason's question Thalia walked forward and bowed to the king of gods.

"Father"

"Rise daughter". Then she bowed to Artemis with the other demigods following suit. Once all the initial pleasantries had been done they sat in the armchairs and observed the meeting. The gods were debating on whether the goddess of magic, Hecate deserved to be punished. She had supported the titans last year and now seemed to suffer a change of heart and aided the seven in their quest. They demanded to know where her loyalties truly lied and whether she would be on their side if another war broke out. Hecate looked frustrated, they hadn't let her speak instead choosing to voice their own opinions. Hades was the one who solved the problem.

"ENOUGH!". His voice stopped everyone midsentence. "Allow her to speak up, brother. Then we can discuss."

"Very well then, Hecate what do you have to say?"

"Thank you Hades. If they had let me state my reasons before this matter would have been solved a long time ago. The reason why I had joined the titan lord was because….well he kind of forced me to cooperate with him."

"What did he threaten you with?" Athena asked.

"My children. Kronos had Luke manipulate my children, turn them against the gods. It wasn't that hard seeing that he shared a cabin with them and knew how to use their weaknesses against them. Almost all my children save a few sided with the titans. I had no choice. He threatened me with my children when I didn't cooperate. As soon as the war was over I set about undoing all the spells, charms, subtle compelling diversions placed on the mortals, and all the mist I had woven to shield his army from detection. I intended to stay out of your sight at least until everything had calmed down and make my plea but the fates had other plans. Perseus here was abducted and l know some of you doubted me of aiding in his 'demigodnapping'. I didn't want to make the same mistake as earlier and the ancient laws forbid me from interfering directly. I offered assistance to the extent I could. When I came to know some specific individuals had no qualms in appearing to the questers I helped them to vanquish my bane. I also invested my time in teaching a few tricks of the mist to the daughter of Hades or I should say Pluto which I believe was of great help to the seven. I may have made a mistake in the titan war I believe I rectified the same through my actions of the present. I implore you to consider all I have done and pass your final judgement, my Lords and Ladies."

With that Hecate bowed gracefully and proceeded to her throne. It was placed there as per custom with minimal engravings and decor. She sat on the throne with barely a rustle or a flutter of her dress and folded her hands primly atop one another and took a deep breath.

The silence that followed her speech was broken by Ares surprisingly.

" Do you have any evidence that prove your 'helpful interference'?". The way he said those last two words were mocking in their tone but she seized the opportunity and replied.

"Yes. Can you call Mnemosyne please. She can aid in showing you my memories."

Hermes was sent to call the goddess of memory. As soon as the goddess appeared the situation was explained and she set to work looking through Hecate's memory for relevant instances. Soon she was done and called Iris to create a screen like the IM ones to show the collage of memories.

All the gods stayed silent as the things Hecate mentioned were shown. Her children being claimed, Kronos threatening her children, Hecate doing as Kronos commanded, dismantling all the spells after the war, and then more recent ones Hecate appearing to Hazel, again helping the seven to defeat Clytius, Hecate helping her children to spell all the cabins for faster rebuilding and more durability, using magic to restore some seemingly unstable buildings without the demigods knowledge and reinforcing the camp barriers.

After the last of the image faded, Hecate turned to the gods and lifted an eyebrow.

"Your evidence is true enough. You took time to help the demigods in the aftermath. Something many of us should have done. I think you have done enough to warrant your loyalty. The final verdict however lies with father. Your word Lord Zeus." Athena intoned from her seat.

Zeus cleared his throat. "After all the evidence provided by Hecate, the council declares her to be free of all the accusations presented on her. However Hecate is to aid the demigods in restoration of camp since she has already done a good job of it. Does any one disagree?"

No one opened their mouths and the matter was closed. Hera called for the next issue to be put forward. Before it could be stated, Poseidon interrupted with a confused look on his countenance.

"Iris, could you please show the last few memories again?"

"What is your problem now barnacle beard?" , Athena inquired none too politely.

"I saw something on the periphery of the screen. I would like to view it more closely."

The screen smoked and shifted to the image of Hecate raising her hands and chanting on the camp boundaries.

"Move to the left. Near the pine tree. Do you see someone standing there? Show their face."

The image zoomed and moved to the left to reveal black hair, tanned skin and striking sea green eyes. Everyone gasped. They recognised Percy but the tears streaming down his face was something that no one had ever witnessed. His eyes were scrunched shut and he was shaking his head slightly from side to side with his fists clenched. He opened his eyes and everyone was shocked to see the sadness swimming in the green eyes. He wiped his tears and shook his head again and trudged down the hill to his cabin.

All those present turned towards Percy. His face blanched. 'Man this is not what I was expecting', Percy thought before the council erupted into chaos.

* * *

AN: So sorry for the late late late update.. I had this typed up long ago but an unexpected confiscation of my phone and temporary ban on Internet placed by my parents messed up my update. I currently have no Internet even though my exams are done as I am abroad in my father's home. So the next chapter is basically a continuation of this which I had to break up. Sorry once again.

- _ **MIDNIGHT.**_


	4. Chapter 4

AN: To Checkingdude- Ouch that hurt...I probably did deserve it after all. But it was effective. Here is the next chapter.

(Me sulking at a corner at having to be induced to post a chapter... Really you should be more responsible)

* * *

 **CHAPTER 4**

 _'Man this is not what I was expecting' Percy thought before the council erupted into chaos._

'This day just got better', was all that Percy thought before he started panicking. How could he explain that to them? Would they understand? The gods especially dad- Poseidon would be furious, he knew that. He looked at Nico, with pleading eyes. After all only Nico knew about that night and he didn't judge him. If Nico kept quiet then he could try bluffing his way out of this. What would happen if ... He refused to think about any negative thoughts.

Nico looked at him with wide eyes. Artemis eyed this exchange with a thoughtful look. Poseidon looked at him with confusion and sadness marring his features. As always Athena looked calm and unperturbed but if you looked closely you could see she was curious too. She raised her voice and called for silence.

Poseidon said in a controlled tone that hinted at distress, " What happened, son?".

Percy shook his head and stayed silent. He didn't want to talk about it. They could ask him all they wanted but they wouldn't get anything from him.

"Perhaps we should ask that to the son of Hades. He seems to know something." Artemis suggested.

Poseidon immediately turned to Nico and said, " Why was Percy at the camp border? Was he going somewhere? Why was he... crying?" The last word came out with barely a sound as if he couldn't understand why the happy go lucky Percy would be shedding tears.

Nico's gaze swept around his fellow demigods and landed on Percy who still had his head down. He seemed to be waiting for some sign from the sea god's son but when he received none he took a deep breath and whispered as if he was revealing something that he swore not to. Fortunately the demigods and the gods seemed to have a super sense of hearing because after he said they all gasped in unison.

" Percy was going to leave the camp."

If this shocked the gods, then the next words he spoke baffled them even more.

" Percy has been having nightmares, sometime brief flashback episodes since the end of the war. They are rare but some specific things or situation or places trigger his suppressed memories of tarta- that hellhole" He stopped himself from saying 'Tartarus' when he saw the green eyed demigod flinch slightly. He knew he was breaking his promise to Percy but this had to come out sometime so he continued

" Of course him being the great hero he was, he refused to talk about it or even mention it to anyone. I happened to come across him one day walking around the camp fire at 3 o' clock in the night. He was-"

"And pray tell me what were you doing then, Nico?"

Of course only Athena would interrupt him to ask the more pressing question. Note the sarcasm here. Nico glanced furtively around, his eyes settling for a brief moment on his father before lowering his eyes.

" I- that is not important we were talking about Percy !"

In retrospect maybe he shouldn't have sounded so defensive. He practically made it sound like 'hey do not poke your nose here I have a secret'.

"I for one would like to know what you were doing at 3 am while you were supposed to take as much as rest as you could. As prescribed by your doctor or so I was informed." Hades rumbled.

" Uh- it's nothing-"

"Nico !"

"Well..."

For the greater good.. For the greater good ..damn it. His troubles were minor compared to Percy's. They would soon forget about him when the others comprehended the full extent of Percy's issue. He should really get on with this. But when he opened his mouth he had trouble getting the words out.

" Ever since my short trip and the subsequent capture of me by the giants, my sleeping schedule had been disrupted. So I –"

"Disrupted, my ass! Man, you barely slept at all!" Jason exclaimed.

"Damn you all! Stop interrupting me you godly beings . I am fine for those who are concerned. The same cannot be said for Percy. He at first only had trouble sleeping and some major seizures when triggered, what is truly disturbing is the fact that even the smallest reminder causes a disturbance in him. It may not be noticeable to you but to someone who had known him well for a long time it is a big neon sign board blinking. Hell he won't even eat properly anymore. For every smile he gives out he hides a grimace. I saw him walking towards the camp borders that night and stopped him. He tried to give some ridiculous excuse like how he wanted some fresh air and shut up when I pointed at the bag hanging off his shoulders. He confessed well more like shouted at me that he had to get out. He was feeling so suffocated in there drowning in his memories berating himself for every thing that happened to the camp because of the war. You have to understand this , all of us feel bad. We could have stopped the Romans from attacking the camp in the war or should have been more efficient in dealing with Gaea but it hit Percy the hardest with loyalty his fatal flaw. It's not fair he blames himself for every loss even if couldn't have done anything to stop it. He said that it was too much. He couldn't act like how he was before so that no one would worry about him. He wanted to leave the camp to get away from the memories. He hadn't said a word to anyone not even Grover. I stopped him from leaving, took his bag and made him promise he wouldn't do something stupid like that without telling anyone. End of story."

Every single godly being in the room were dumbfounded. They hadn't expected this. All eyes turned towards the small armchair beside Poseidon's throne. It was empty.

* * *

(THE WIZARDING WORLD)

The Weasley family en masse arrived early in the morning (it was practically dawn in Harry's opinion the sun was just coming out) at the Leaky Cauldron to start the shopping for the new term. As if on cue as the last member of the group was ejected from the fireplace around six aurors approached them. They spoke with Mr. Weasley and then nodded their heads. The one standing in the front shook Mr. Weasley's hand and stepped away. Mr. Weasley came over to where his wife was fussing over their daughter.

"Ginny dear, I hope this year at least you take your studies seriously unlike your brother here whose only aim is to play quidditch all year long at Hogwarts." Molly said glaring at Ron who was animatedly inquiring Tom about the recent leagues and whether Chudley Cannons won any of them.

'Some things never change', Harry thought.

Ron came back to Hermione and him with a down cast face.

"What is the matter with you? You look like you lost a match"

Ron answered her, " It would have been better if I had lost a match. There was not a single match the last few months mate. Can you believe it. How could this be possible?"

"It is rather outrageous-", Harry assured him. Hermione looked at him incredulously. He continued, "I can't imagine why they wouldn't host a match. They probably could have had the Death eaters come as the spectators. Would have gone brilliantly don't you think, Ron?"

Ron flushed a bit, two spots appearing high on his cheeks as Hermione hid her grin. Oh how she missed his sarcasm. He hadn't been too vocal in any of the conversations all these days preferring to stay in the background and observe. It was too strange to see Harry not participating in discussions. Previously he demanded to know everything so that he wouldn't feel left out. Now he spoke only if he had to convey something or if spoken to. That irked her. She longed to see the bespectacled boy standing in front of her with his best friend carefree like he had been when she first met him. To see the sheer joy that lit up his entire face when he realized that he had friends- no they were a family that will always stand by him every time he faced a danger. She longed to see him truly happy once again. She knew that it would take time but she would always be there for him. He was the reason she first found acceptance in the wizarding world and now admiration from it. Which brought her to the present situation.

"What do you say Hermione? I know you are dying to go to Flourish and Blots to buy our books but can we please go to Madame Malkins first? I am pretty sure we all outgrew every single one of our uniform robes. Better go and give measurements ahead before it gets crowded with the first years"

Hermione nodded surprised. Since she had of course completely forgotten about school robes. They told Ron's dad their shopping itinerary and were promptly assigned three guards. One for each of them they were told.

"But why three Aurors, dad? We can handle ourselves just fine if someone is stupid enough to attack us."

"Oh no, they are for a different kind of attackers. Ones I am sure none of you can handle."

With that mysterious statement that left them wondering about the 'different kind of attackers' Mr. Weasely went to his wife.

That mystery was solved as soon as they opened the door and were greeted with the noise of a dozen or two of people demanding to be let inside.

* * *

AN: No people I am not dead. This late update is a consequence of another temporary phone ban due to the parents – teachers meeting in which my math teacher had some words to say regarding my 'slightly more than average performance in the exam that would not have occurred if I had a little more concentration while preparing'.

You really have Checkingdude to thank for this chapter. If not for that review I wouldn't have sneaked out to the garden to type and upload this. Thanks man.

If I do not update for a prolonged period of time say a month you readers have the permission to bombard my pm with reminders. It is a proven fact that I work better with deadlines staring at my face.

I know this chapter isn't too great. Heck even I felt it wasn't the best. Apologies if possible I will edit this chapter in future.

As always your reviews make my day. (Hint: that means I expect some feedback on what I write. It can be on my shortcomings or mistakes provided you don't openly insult me) ;)

 _ **-MIDNIGHT**_


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